Summary: The big story last week continued to be the credit meltdown. The crisis is turning out to be much worse than we were told it would be at the beginning. And, if any fool could have predicted this, and if the bankers are by no means fools, why did they let it get this bad? Is it part of a larger plan?

Christmas is observed December 25 by Christians and others celebrating the spirit of the season while for those of the Eastern Orthodox faith the holiday falls on January 7. It's to honor the birth of Jesus Christ even though it's widely acknowledged not to be his birthday. Along with its religious significance, the season is also for other celebratory events like winter festivals, parties, family get-togethers and Kwanzaa from December 26 - January 1 for Africans Americans to reconnect to their cultural and historical heritage. Jews as well celebrate the season with the Hanukkah Festival of Lights. It's to commemorate their struggle for survival, but for Jewish children it's their Christmas with gifts from parents like their Christian friends get.

Over 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries recently voiced significant objections to major aspects of the so-called "consensus" on man-made global warming. These scientists, many of whom are current and former participants in the UN IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), criticized the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore.

The new report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's office of the GOP Ranking Member details the views of the scientists, the overwhelming majority of whom spoke out in 2007.

California voters by nearly a 2-to-1 majority would support increasing their state's cigarette tax by $2 per pack to help raise cash for a state effort to provide health-care insurance to the uninsured, according to the latest Field Poll released on Friday.

Riverhead, N.Y. - A black man who invoked images of lynch mobs in explaining why he killed a white teenager was convicted of second-degree manslaughter when a jury rejected defense lawyers' arguments that his actions were justified.

Member of military delegation suspected of trying to steal 99-cent voltage converter from store on army base in Texas.

A captain in the Israeli Air Force has been arrested for attempted theft during an official visit to a military base in Texas, according to a report aired by Channel 10 over the weekend.

The report said that following a series of meetings with their American counterparts, a number of Israeli officers belonging to anti-aircraft units decided to shop at a store located on the base. One of the officers, a former commander of a Patriot Missile battery, was caught as he was allegedly trying to steal a 99-cent voltage converter.

We are lawyers in the United States of America. As such, we have all taken an oath obligating us to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.... We believe the Bush administration has committed numerous offenses against the Constitution and may have violated federal laws.... Moreover, the administration has blatantly defied congressional subpoenas, obstructing constitutional oversight .... Thus, we call on House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers and Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy to launch hearings into the possibility that crimes have been committed by this administration in violation of the Constitution.... We call for the investigations to go where they must, including into the offices of the President and the Vice President. -- American Lawyers Defending the Constitution

This Christmas Eve, the freedom-loving Bush administration has a chance to mark the anniversary of a great victory for formerly oppressed people on U.S. soil. The President is unlikely, however, to notice or heed the meaning of this particular milestone, whose cast of characters and historical lessons he would undoubtedly regard as all wrong.

December 24th, 1837 marks the 170th anniversary of the U.S. government's first significant military defeat in its first foreign incursion. The place was Florida, then a Spanish colony. The foe was a united force of Africans, on the run from the south's slave plantations, and Seminoles, whose self-determination was endangered. The runaway Africans had been establishing prosperous, self-governing communities in the peninsula since 1738. During the American Revolution they merged with Seminole Indians into a multicultural nation that cultivated crops according to techniques learned in Senegambia and Sierra Leone. Out of this came an alliance that shaped effective diplomatic and military responses to invaders and slavecatchers.

For those who might still be harboring some doubts, it is now official: the Democratic Party has officially abrogating any responsibility for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Tuesday, December 18, 2007 marked a milestone for the party, as its leaders in the Senate administered a massive slap to the face of an American public that has favored a timetable for withdrawal for the last two and a half years, and has consistently deemed the Iraq war not "worth it" since at least the November 2004 election. The Democratically controlled Senate has voted to grant another $70 billion in funding toward the Iraq war ­ without imposing any concrete conditions or legal stipulations requiring a timetable for withdrawal. While Democrats may have gained numerical majorities in both the House and Senate following the 2006 mid-term elections, for all intensive purposes, Republicans and pro-war hawks retain firm control of both chambers when it comes to actually setting foreign policy. The Iraq bill, proposed by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Independent Joe Lieberman, demonstrates the continued strength of pro-war hawks quite clearly.

Wauzeka, Wisconsin -A 52-year-old Wauzeka man has been arrested after he attacked Crawford County sheriff's deputies with an ax and then barricaded himself in his home.

Crawford County Sheriff Jerry Moran and Prairie du Chien Police Chief Mike King say deputies responded to Wauzeka Thursday night for a report of a man acting strangely. When they arrived at the man's home, he had locked the front door.

Rock Springs, Wyoming - A woman stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife following an argument that began when she accused him of opening a Christmas present early, authorities said Friday.

Misty Johnson, 34, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery, a felony, and misdemeanor domestic battery. Her husband, Shawn Fay Johnson, 34, was treated at a hospital for a wound to the chest, police said.

Farmers and agribusiness operators should review chemical guidelines and determine whether they will be affected by a new U.S. Department of Homeland Security regulation, according to Billy Dictson, director of the office of bio-security at the Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center at New Mexico State University's College of Agriculture and Home Economics.

"In an effort to increase the security of high-risk chemical facilities, the Department of Homeland Security recently released a list of chemicals that, if possessed by a facility in a specified quantity, would require them to complete a Chemical Security Anti-Terrorism Top-Screen assessment," Dictson said. "Those required to go through this initial screening must do so before Jan. 21."

Failure to comply with the regulations could result in civil penalties of up to $25,000 per day or the shutdown of the facility.

"New Mexico farmers and agribusinesses storing fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals might be affected by these new regulations, so it is important that they quickly determine if they meet the new federal requirements," said Jeff Witte, New Mexico Department of Agriculture's director of the office of agriculture bio-security at the Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center. "I urge all producers and businesses to review the requirements and contact the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if they have any questions."

St. Louis, Missouri - A federal judge on Friday sentenced a Missouri man to 170 years in prison for abducting two boys, including one he held and sexually assaulted for more than four years.

Michael Devlin, 42, pleaded guilty in October to charges he forced Shawn Hornbeck, who was 11 when he was snatched in October 2002 while riding his bike, to commit sex acts so that he could photograph them.

Readers of The Shock Doctrine know that one of the most shameless examples of disaster capitalism has been the attempt to exploit the disastrous flooding of New Orleans to close down that city's public housing projects, some of the only affordable units in the city. Most of the buildings sustained minimal flood damage, but they happen to occupy valuable land that make for perfect condo developments and hotels.

The final showdown over New Orleans public housing is playing out in dramatic fashion right now. The conflict is a classic example of the "triple shock" formula at the core of the doctrine.

Athens, Greece: Serbia's future lies within the European Union and its eventual entry into the bloc must not be tied to developments in Kosovo, the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece said Saturday.

Moscow regards U.S. plans to deploy missile defense bases in Central Europe as an attempt to weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent, the official Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

"If a radar [in the Czech Republic] along with missiles in Poland are deployed, this will be a military operation ...to weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent potential," Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement.

"We will have no other option but to take measures to make up for this new factor in our strategic balance of forces with the United States."

The authentic French bistro-dweller's look of perpetual anguish requires that the eyes be directed upwards, the corners of the mouth drawn downwards, and a crumpled cigarette balanced vaguely on the horizontal. From next month, the expression will feature more despair and fewer cigarettes.

The day of reckoning has arrived for Europe's most incorrigible smokers. On January 1, it will become illegal to light up in bars, restaurants or nightclubs, and as the deadline nears, a palpable sense of panic is taking hold.

Foreign ministers are busy people - especially energetic, creative diplomats like Russia's Sergei Lavrov and Iran's Manouchehr Mottaki, representing capitals that by tradition place great store on international diplomacy.

Therefore, the very fact that Lavrov and Mottaki have met no less than four times in as many months suggests a great deal about the high importance attached by the two capitals to their mutual understanding at the bilateral and regional level.

TASHKENT - Uzbekistan voted Sunday in an election where hardline President Islam Karimov faces only token opposition to his bid for a new seven-year term at the head of the isolated Central Asian state.

In the run-up to the election Karimov, 69, told foreign diplomats that he wanted "a free society and prosperous life" for the ex-Soviet republic of 28 million people.

A Parliamentary Committee is considering reconstituting the CBI ( Central Bureau of Intelligence ) as Central Bureau of Intelligence and Investigation to handle federal cases such as terror attacks and those pertaining to national importance.

BOGOTA - Colombia Sunday said there were no impediments to the release of three hostages leftist FARC rebels have promised to hand over to Venezuela, as families of abductees sent anguished Christmas messages to their loved ones.

"There isn't any military operation aimed at preventing the hostages from being freed," Peace Commissioner Carlos Restrepo said Sunday, after an opposition lawmaker said ongoing military operations against the rebels could delay the release.

BANGKOK - Allies of deposed Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra claimed victory in Sunday's elections, setting the stage for the billionaire's political comeback more than a year after his ouster in a coup.

Samak Sundaravej said his People Power Party (PPP), which regroups Thaksin's political allies, would form the next government although he predicted they would fall short of an absolute majority in parliament.

NEW DELHI - Controversial Hindu nationalist party leader Narendra Modi swept back to power in India's religiously divided Gujarat state Sunday in what was called a national victory over the rival Congress Party.

The Congress loss in the Hindu nationalist bastion, though expected, was the fourth setback in regional polls this year for the party, which governs nationally, and raised questions about its federal poll prospects in 2009.

KATMANDU, Nepal - Nepal's government agreed Sunday to abolish the centuries-old monarchy in a political deal with Maoist former rebels, but the decision will go into effect only after next year's elections, party officials said.

Every year, thousands of people risk their lives crossing the Gulf of Aden: Somalis fleeing the fighting in their country and Ethiopians leaving because they cannot find work back home, for political reasons, or because of the conflict in the Somali region.

The US has lost ground in Latin America over the past decade, since the project to develop the Free Trade Area of the Americas flopped and since leftwing governments took power and used it with imagination and vigour. The US continues to try to block such emancipation by promoting more free trade agreements, and increasing military cooperation in the name of the war on terrorism and narcotics and the defence of market democracy.

Mystery surrounds the death of a young man found wedged in a stormwater drain at Healesville yesterday.

Residents of Donnelly's Weir Rd found the local man's body stuffed in the drain, with his legs and upper torso protruding from the opening, just before noon.

They had first noticed a black bag belonging to the victim sitting beside the gravel road about 7pm Saturday, but did not make the gruesome discovery until they took a closer look in the overgrown culvert yesterday.

Police are treating the death as suspicious due to the awkward position of the body.

If you're ticketed by Green Bay police, you'll get more than a fine. You'll get fingerprinted, too. It's a new way police are cracking down on crime.

If you're caught speeding or playing your music too loud, or other crimes for which you might receive a citation, Green Bay police officers will ask for your drivers license and your finger. You'll be fingerprinted right there on the spot. The fingerprint appears right next to the amount of the fine.

New York City police are moving forward on a multimillion-dollar counter-terrorism initiative, installing more than a hundred license plate readers and eventually thousands of cameras in Lower Manhattan. NY1 Criminal Justice Reporter Solana Pyne takes a look at the program in the following report.

As Police officer Michael Gerbasi drives, a camera on the roof of his patrol car photographs license plates. A computer then checks a database to see, for example, if the car is stolen.

A newly declassified document shows that J. Edgar Hoover, the longtime director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had a plan to suspend habeas corpus and imprison some 12,000 Americans he suspected of disloyalty.

The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion project to build the world's largest computer database of biometrics to give the U.S. government more ways to identify people at home and abroad, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The FBI, the main investigative arm of the Department of Justice, has already started compiling digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns in its systems, the paper said.

Study compiled by US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), headed by a former Pentagon analyst, explores several hypothetical scenarios for unconventional warfare in our region. Authors find 'Israel's residents and economy could weather nuclear war with Iran'.

All out nuclear war between Israel and Iran: a doomsday scenario that we all fear deeply. A new study compiled by the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), headed by former Pentagon analyst Anthony H. Cordesman, explored just such a nightmare scenario, noting that it could lead to the death of between 16- 28 million Iranian civilians, and 200-800 thousand Israelis.

This hypothetical, research-oriented study also explored other contingencies for unconventional warfare in our region, noting the tactics that various countries could potentially employ in such instances.

In yet another superb piece of journalism, the peerless Charlie Savage of The Boston Globe submitted to the leading presidential candidates a questionnaire asking their views on 12 key questions regarding executive power. Savage's article accompanying the candidates' responses makes clear why these matters are so critical:

In 2000, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were not asked about presidential power, and they volunteered nothing about their attitude toward the issue to voters. Yet once in office, they immediately began seeking out ways to concentrate more unchecked power in the White House -- not just for themselves, but also for their successors. . . .

As of Saturday, Dec. 22, 2007, at least 3,897 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,171 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

WASHINGTON - A review of classified documents by former members of the Sept. 11 commission shows that the panel made repeated and detailed requests to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2003 and 2004 for documents and other information about the interrogation of operatives of Al Qaeda, and were told by a top C.I.A. official that the agency had "produced or made available for review" everything that had been requested.

The review was conducted earlier this month after the disclosure that in November 2005, the C.I.A. destroyed videotapes documenting the interrogations of two Qaeda operatives.

Oscar-winning British director Kevin Macdonald has raised the intriguing possibility that Che Guevara's capture by the CIA in the forests of Bolivia 40 years ago was orchestrated by Klaus Barbie, the Nazi war criminal called the 'Butcher of Lyon'.

The Supreme Court's decision in June 2004 has been undermined twice by Congress in the intervening years.

The recent Supreme Court showdown over Guantánamo was billed as "probably the most important habeas corpus case in modern history," according to Law.com, and "the most important civil liberties case of the past 50 years," according to the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR). This was no understatement. At stake was the validity of the administration's novel contention, first formulated in November 2001, that it can seize foreigners anywhere in the world, designate them as "enemy combatants" -- rather than as criminals or prisoners of war -- and hold them indefinitely, without charge or trial.

WASHINGTON - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates Friday voiced hope that US troops will soon start returning home from Iraq, saying improved security there will enable five units to pull out by July as planned.

"The situation on the ground, I think, makes it likely that General (David) Petraeus will be able to decide to bring out the first five teams by July," Gates told an end of year press conference.

On Sunday, and amid fears of renewed clashes among rival Shia groups, Britain handed over security in the southern city of Basra to local Iraqi authorities. In the past, security handovers in Iraq's southern cities have been followed by assassinations and turbulence. Basra, 580 kilometres south of Baghdad, is unlikely to be an exception. The city is Iraq's only port, produces 70 per cent of the country's oil (and exports 80 per cent of it), and offers opportunities for cross-border trafficking with Iran. Iraqi officials and the Shia parties that control the city vowed to maintain security and cooperate with each other. But reality on the ground appears shaky.

While the Palestinian Authority is euphoric about the more than $7 billion pledged by the Paris Donor Conference to help rebuild the ravaged Palestinian economy, many Palestinians remain sceptical about whether such a goal is possible under military occupation.

Monday's one-day donor conference was attended by representatives of more than 90 countries. Islamic and leftist camps within Palestine, though, view the Paris pledges as little more than an attempt to buy political concessions from a Palestinian government almost entirely dependent on international aid. Their scepticism will only have been reinforced by the continued killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army -- 10 Palestinians were murdered on Monday alone -- and by relentless settlement expansion in the West Bank, especially in and around East Jerusalem.

UK security firm accused of failing to pass on intelligence to army in Basra

MPs called yesterday for a full parliamentary inquiry into the British security company ArmorGroup after allegations made about its operations in Iraq by former employees. Two MPs have issued the call in response to claims that an employee had been told to withhold intelligence from the British armed forces and that the company had exaggerated the numbers of its employees on the ground.

FORGET THE Qassams. Forget the mortar shells. They are nothing compared with what Hamas launched at us this week:

The chief of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, has approached an Israeli newspaper and proposed a cease-fire. No more Qassams, no more mortars, no suicide bombings, no Israeli military incursions into the Strip, no "targeted liquidations" of leaders. A total cease-fire. And not only in the Gaza Strip, but in the West Bank, too.

High Court to hear petition by 17 women's organizations asking that appointment be annulled. 'The fact the government welcomes a convicted sex offender into its midst proves the system is biased,' say plaintiffs.

Seventeen women's organizations have a petition the High Court Sunday, asking it to convene an extended judicial panel to discuss the continuing service in public office of Vice Premier Haim Ramon.

Ramon was convicted of committing an indecent act in January of 2007, and sentenced to 120 hours of community service. His appointment to vice premier was immediately challenged, but the State and the Court have since maintained that there were no legal grounds to prevent the appointment.

An Israeli soldier tackles a Palestinian protester dressed as Santa Claus or Father Christmas during at a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the village of Umm Salamunah near the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem. Israeli guards beat five demonstrators during the protest on Friday, organisers said.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Israeli guards beat five demonstrators, including one dressed as Father Christmas, during a protest on Friday against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank, organisers said.

About 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international peace activists attended the rally in the village of Um Salomona, near Bethlehem, the Biblical birthplace of Jesus that is preparing to celebrate Christmas.

New York - Panden Rota, a Nepalese producer of fine rugs, is about to become a Manhattanite, the owner of a sumptuous apartment in the luxurious downtown neighborhood of Battery Park City.

His primary residence will remain Katmandu, but his new home will allow him to spend more time at U.S. showrooms that display his rugs and with a brother and sister in New York. "I looked at many places and I decided that a Manhattan apartment will always hold its value," he said.

Rota is part of a growing wave of foreigners who buy second homes in the U.S. for work and play and as an investment.

Merrill Lynch said Monday it will take $6.2 billion in investments from the Singapore government and a mutual fund manager to shore up its capital base, as many analysts expect the investment bank to announce a second consecutive quarterly loss next month.

It is the latest instance of a Western bank to seek emergency financing from cash-rich Eastern investment funds, as turmoil in the subprime mortgage market continues to shake up Wall Street.

Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come.

What began as a crisis of liquidity for one bank has become a major political crisis for the British government. The failure of the attempt to bail out Northern Rock has led to serious political recriminations and conflicts among the political and financial elite as the Labour government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown finds itself pouring money into a bottomless pit.

Worldwide food prices have risen sharply and supplies have dropped this year, according to the latest food outlook of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The agency warned December 17 that the changes represent an "unforeseen and unprecedented" shift in the global food system, threatening billions with hunger and decreased access to food.

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay: South America's Mercosur trade bloc signed a free trade treaty with Israel Tuesday and Venezuela sought new momentum for its stalled bid for full membership in the group.

The agreement with Israel was the first that the four-nation bloc has signed with a country outside the Americas. Leaders said they hoped to use it as a model for treaties with other Mideast nations, South Africa and India.

The treaty calls for a decade-long phase-out of tariffs on most goods and services and took more than two years to negotiate. Eliyahu Yishai, Israel's commerce and industry minister, signed on behalf of his nation.

The Federal Reserve, working to combat the effects of a severe credit crunch, announced Friday it had auctioned another $20 billion in funds to commercial banks at an interest rate of 4.67 percent. Fed officials pledged to continue with the auctions "for as long as necessary."

Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce the Free Competition in Currency Act. This act would eliminate two sections of US Code that, although ostensibly intended to punish counterfeiters, have instead been used by the government to shut down private mints. As anti-counterfeiting measures, these sections are superfluous, as 18 USC 485, 490, and 491 already grant sufficient authority to punish counterfeiters.

The stock market remains unsettled, as the nation's economic problems grow. Washington from the White House to Capitol Hill to the Federal Reserve gives us lots of bustle but no truly comforting action.

The Democrats pushed through an energy bill that will likely leave the nation in the desperate in the gasp of Middle East oil exporters. Wall Street banks continue to sell out their shareholders to Chinese and Middle East investors to pay for their big bonuses. The Federal Reserve cracks down on predatory lending on Main Street, when the real crooks work on Wall Street. The recession watch continues.

Greg Weakland, 19, secures a tow hook to a stranded passenger's car to help it up an inclined street as snow blows down in Topeka, Kan.

MILWAUKEE - Highways were hazardous for holiday travelers Sunday and thousands of homes and businesses had no electricity in the Midwest as a storm blew through the region with heavy snow and howling wind.

The bubbles popping up in Lake Peigneur are explosive but apparently natural, says a leader of the group trying to stop expansion of a natural gas storage operation under the lake.

Tests by the U.S. Geological Survey show the bubbles are 70 percent methane and 30 percent air, with more than double the oxygen needed for a volatile mix, said Nara Crowley, vice president of Save Lake Peigneur. She said that doubles both the chance of explosions and the power of any that might occur.

AMARILLO, Texas - A blinding snowstorm blew from the Plains to the Midwest on Saturday, causing at least 5 deaths and dozens of injuries in numerous multi-car pileups and forcing authorities to close portions of several major highways.

In Texas, one person died in a chain-reaction pileup involving more than 50 vehicles, including several tractor-trailer rigs, on Interstate 40, police said. Authorities said it would take a few days to determine exactly how many were involved.

Video stills show a ground squirrel chewing on a rattlesnake's shed skin and then licking its body to apply the masticated mush. The act most likely persuades serpents that another snake, not a squirrel, is in the area. A new study suggests that this behavior is part of a host of tricks the squirrels have evolved to use to avoid predation.

To mask their odor from rattlesnakes, California ground squirrels and rock squirrels chew on sloughed-off snake skin and smear it on their fur, according to a new study.

The act most likely persuades the predators that another snake, not a squirrel, is in the area.

The most highly endangered duck species, the Laysan teal, had a very successful 2007 breeding season at a refuge that was once part of its historic range, according to U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologists. This year's total tally of adult and fledgling Laysan ducks, now residing on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), rose during 2007 to approximately 200 ducks.

This is only the third year since these highly endangered birds, also known as Laysan teal, were trapped in the wild and carefully transported by ship from their only remaining population on Laysan Island to re-establish a second population.

"These rare, wild ducks could not co-exist with rats, migrate, or disperse away from Laysan Island, so a few birds were translocated by ship to restore the species to a larger range," USGS wildlife researcher Michelle Reynolds, coordinator for the project, explained. "Now Laysan ducks are found on three rat-free islands for the first time in hundreds of years and are flying between islands at Midway Atoll."

If you ever wondered why the male comedians outnumber women in showbiz, the scientists now have an answer for you. Findings from a recent study in London claim that men are logically more comedic than women owing of the male hormone testosterone!

The study conducted by Professor Sam Shuster of Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, says that testosterones found in males stimulate belligerence and this in turn, develops humor.

It may be mentioned here that nearly two years ago, on the basis of studies of brain patterns scientists at the Stanford University had asserted that a gender divide exists while it comes to appreciating humor.

The US man used a silver extract to treat a skin condition. But it ended up changing the colour of his face, leaving him with a deep blue tinge.

The 57-year-old was fair-skinned and freckled 14 years ago, until he developed a bad case of dermatitis caused by stress. When it got so bad that the skin on his face began to peel and crack he began to use a substance called colloidal silver, he told US television.

An unprecedented number of camels across North Africa and the Middle East died last year, researchers have discovered. The several thousand deaths have baffled scientists who are probing toxins, antibiotic pollution, viruses and even climate change as possible causes.

British people are consuming about one third more alcohol than previous estimates had calculated, mainly because there are more stronger beers, ciders and wines on the market than there used to be. While people's drinking habits/frequencies are not really changing, adjustments have to be made regarding the amount of total alcohol content that consumers are drinking.

Women who are thinking of becoming pregnant or who are pregnant often require additional supplementation of folic acid. Adequate folic acid is important for pregnant women because it has been shown to prevent some kinds of birth defects, including neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Many foods are now fortified with folic acid to help prevent these kinds of serious birth defects.

Folate (folic acid) is necessary for the production of red blood cells and for the synthesis of DNA (which controls heredity and is used to guide the cell in its daily activities). Folic acid also helps with tissue growth and cell function. In addition, it helps to increase appetite when needed and stimulates the formation of digestive acids.

A new study of combat-exposed Vietnam War veterans shows that those with injuries to certain parts of the brain were less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The findings, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Naval Medical Center, suggest that drugs or pacemaker-like devices aimed at dampening activity in these brain regions might be effective treatments for PTSD.

PTSD involves the persistent reliving of a traumatic experience through nightmares and flashbacks that may seem real. Twenty percent to 30 percent of Vietnam vets (more than 1 million) have been diagnosed with PTSD, and a similar rate has been reported among Hurricane Katrina survivors in New Orleans. Public health officials are currently tracking the disorder among soldiers returning from Iraq. Yet, while war and natural disasters tend to call the greatest attention to PTSD, it's estimated that millions of Americans suffer from it as a result of assault, rape, child abuse, car accidents, and other traumatic events.

Previous studies have shown that PTSD is associated with changes in brain activity, but those studies couldn't determine whether the changes were contributing to the disorder or merely occurring because of it.

If you have trouble hearing, or notice that your hearing is not as good as it used to be, listen up.

Age-related hearing loss may be retrievable, according to Dr. Jonathan Wright, MD, medical director of the Tahoma Clinic in Washington.

By supplementing three patients with the bioidentical hormone aldosterone, all of the men -- who were either losing their hearing or who had lost a lot of their hearing -- were able to regain much of what had been lost.

In a new study in Nature, Brandeis University Howard Hughes Medical Investigator Dr. Dorothee Kern and collaborators pull back the curtain on the secret lives of enzymes, the ubiquitous proteins that catalyze chemical reactions in the cell.

The well-preserved skull of an extinct bird called the Bahamas caracara was found in Sawmill Sink, a deep "blue hole" that has yielded a treasure trove of fossils dating from pre-human Bahamas. A new study about Sawmill Sink says that some of the more unusual finds are the remains of ancient tortoises and crocodiles previously unknown to exist in the West Indies. The discovery locations of tortoise ("t") and croc ("C") fossils are indicated in a map of the sinkhole.

On the images taken from the orbit an unusual mountain formation is depicted, which seems to have resulted from weathering (erosion) and is located amid the frozen ocean. The given formation drop-like shape (in section), its evidently erosion origin and the unusual structure at the base, which might be conventionally called a 'door' for its physical resemblance, are of interest.

Planetary scientists have puzzled for years over an apparent contradiction on Mars. Abundant evidence points to an early warm, wet climate on the red planet, but there's no sign of the widespread carbonate rocks, such as limestone, that should have formed in such a climate. Now, a detailed analysis in the Dec. 21 issue of Science by MIT's Maria T. Zuber and Itay Halevy and Daniel P. Schrag of Harvard University provides a possible answer to the mystery.

In addition to being warmed by a greenhouse effect caused by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as on Earth, the early Mars may have had the greenhouse gas sulfur dioxide in its atmosphere. That would have interfered with the formation of carbonates, explaining their absence today.

It would also explain the discovery by the twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, of sulfur-rich minerals that apparently formed in bodies of water in that early Martian environment. And it may provide clues about the Earth's history as well.

CAIRO, Egypt - Months after Egypt boldly announced that archaeologists had identified a mummy as the most powerful queen of her time, scientists in a museum basement are still analyzing DNA from the bald, 3,500-year-old corpse to try to back up the claim aired on TV.

BEIJING - After 800 years at the bottom of the sea, a merchant ship loaded with porcelain and other rare antiques was raised to the surface Friday in a specially built basket, a state news agency reported.

The melodious sound of a songbird may appear effortless, but his elocutions are actually the result of rigorous training undergone in youth and maintained throughout adulthood. His tune has virtually "crystallized" by maturity. The same control is seen in the motor performance of top athletes and musicians. Yet, subtle variations in highly practiced skills persist in both songbirds and humans. Now, scientists think they know why.

Their finding, reported in the current issue of "Nature," suggests that natural variation is a built-in mechanism designed to allow the nervous system to explore various subtle options aimed at maintaining and optimizing motor skills in the face of such variables as aging and injury.

Inch by power-conserving inch, drivers on Earth have moved the Mars rover Spirit to a spot where it has its best chance at surviving a third Martian winter -- and where it will celebrate its fourth anniversary (in Earth years) since bouncing down on Mars for a projected 90-day mission in January 2004.

Meanwhile, researchers are considering the implications of what Cornell's Steve Squyres, principal investigator for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission, calls "one of the most significant" mission discoveries to date: silica-rich deposits uncovered in May by Spirit's lame front wheel that provide new evidence for a once-habitable environment in Gusev Crater.

Victoria Crater, about 800 meters (one-half mile) in diameter, has been home ground for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity for more than 14 of the rover's first 46 months on Mars. This view shows the rover's path overlaid on an image of the crater taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

LOS ANGELES - Mars could be in for an asteroid hit. A newly discovered hunk of space rock has a 1 in 75 chance of slamming into the Red Planet on Jan. 30, scientists said Thursday.

"These odds are extremely unusual. We frequently work with really long odds when we track ... threatening asteroids," said Steve Chesley, an astronomer with the Near Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Mars is closer to Earth now than any time until the year 2016, offering skywatchers a great look.

The Hubble Space Telescope took advantage of the opportunity, too, photographing the red planet earlier this month. The images were pasted together into a video showing Mars' full rotation.

The red planet is now the brightest "star" in the evening sky, easily visible by mid-evening until dawn. It comes closest to the Earth today at 6:46 p.m. EST, when it will be 54,783,381 miles (88,165,305 kilometers) from us.

Mars looks like an orange star to the naked eye, but it's revealed as a disk with many features in modest telescopes. It will put on a good show all month.

If skies are clear in your area on Sunday night, Dec. 23, you'll be able to partake in a rather unusual sight as the full moon appears to glide very closely above the planet Mars.

Mars, which made its closest approach to the Earth on Dec. 18, will be only hours from a Christmas Eve opposition with the sun and is now shining prominently with a bright yellow-orange glow.

And if you're favorably positioned in certain parts of the Pacific Northwest, western Canada, or Alaska, you'll actually see the moon occult (hide) Mars for a short time as the pair sits low above the east-northeast horizon. A similar encounter in 2003 created a great photo opportunity.

Residents in Oceanside and Point Loma called to ask about mysterious lights that appeared in the sky at sunset Saturday. Both men reported two parallel orange lights that appeared for three or four minutes. One said the lights moved from north to west, then went straight up and disappeared.

A motorist who is a high school football coach is seeking more information about a strange object he says he saw in the skies above Camp Pendleton late Tuesday.

Heading south on Interstate 5 at about 10:45 p.m., Tony Paopao said he and his wife saw what appeared to be a large, brightly lit flying vehicle pass overhead and briefly hover in place, before heading toward the mountains of Camp Pendleton and then out of sight.

"It was about 100 yards up. It was too low to be a plane and it was too fast and too quiet to be a helicopter," Paopao said. "I'm just curious if anybody saw what I saw."

BAL HARBOUR, Fla. - A baby Jesus statue here is getting a Global Positioning System for Christmas. The statue, part of a nativity scene, will be equipped with the device after the previous statue went missing, even though it had been bolted down.

DES MOINES - Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton may have shot herself in the foot trying to get Iowa voters to pledge support to her -- she is encouraging them to go caucus on January 14, 11 days too late.

WASHINGTON - Longtime political adviser and Republican strategist Karl Rove announced Aug. 13 that he would step down from his role as White House deputy chief of staff to spend more time in the shadows and devote his energy to the things he really cares about, such as creeping, slithering, and disappearing for all time into an ever-darkening realm shut off from hope and goodness.

BREMERTON, Wash. - Art Conrad has an issue with the commercialism of Christmas, and his protest has gone way beyond just shunning the malls or turning off his television. The Bremerton resident nailed Santa Claus to a 15-foot crucifix in front of his house.

A lone traveller reads a newspaper in Ben-Gurion international airport near Tel Aviv March 21, 2007. Reading in dim light won't damage your eyes and is a well-worn theory among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published on Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition.

Reading in dim light won't damage your eyes, you don't need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won't make the hair grow back faster.